


How does one become a butterfly?

by Kt_fairy



Series: Oranges [6]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Anxiety, Depression, Dissociation, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family Issues, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Nursey doesn't have unhealthy coping mechanisms, Self Care, Sexual Content, becoming an adult sucks, supportive bf is supportive, they're just not great
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-09
Updated: 2018-08-09
Packaged: 2019-06-23 13:05:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15606936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kt_fairy/pseuds/Kt_fairy
Summary: “I have a right to be upset.”“You do.”“And to be angry.”“Yes.”“And you're not just saying that ‘cause you're my boyfriend.”“Nope.”





	How does one become a butterfly?

 

"How does one become a butterfly?" Pooh asked pensively.  
"You must want to fly so much that you are willing to give up being a caterpillar" Piglet replied.  
"You mean to die?” asked Pooh.  
"Yes and no" he answered. "What _looks_ like you will die, but what's _really_ you will live on..."

\- A.A. Milne.

 

________________________________

 

 

 Derek had never been quite this angry in his life. And he'd been stuck in close proximity to Dex for a long weekend back when he was still an unmitigated asshole.

 

“Ami,” he murmured, clenching his teeth at the look she shot him. The one that meant _leave it, the arguement won't be worth it_.

 

 Usually he would shut his mouth and zone out while she dealt with whatever benefactor or family member was being stupid and small minded or just plain rude. But not now. Not when his guest, his _boyfriend,_ was sat there being not so subtly vagued by his fucking auntie.

 

“Seriously?” he snapped, raising his voice so he couldn't be spoken over. “You're just gonna let her talk about Will like that?”

 

“I'm not talking about anyone...” his auntie huffed.

 

“Derek please…” ami said gently.

 

 Derek ignored them both, turning instead towards Dex who had gently touched his arm. “D…” he breathed gently, not telling him to leave it but giving him the chance to back down if he wanted.

 

 He gave Dex’s fingers a squeeze, holding his gaze as he shook his head.

 

 Dex pursed his lips but nodded, letting his hands fall back into his lap when Derek turned back to his auntie. He took a moment to check himself before he spoke, making sure that what was on the the tip of his tongue was what he wanted to say and that is was not just his anger. “Are you going to apologise to my boyfriend?”

 

 Ami closed her eyes and sighed as his auntie’s eyes bugged, “ _Your boyfriend_!?”

 

“Yeah. You gonna apologise?”

 

“ _Habibi_ …”

 

“I wasn't saying anything about _him_.”

 

 Derek looked at his ami who seemed to be on the brink of speaking, obviously thinking about how to diffuse the situation. It's what she had always done, for herself and for him, but he had never been set so on edge by her level-headed tact before.

 

“All right,” Derek ran his hands over his thighs and stood, turning to Dex. “Looks like you won't be getting the full manhattan experience. We're going to my Dad's, get your stuff.”

 

 Dex got up, stepping jerkily around the couch as he hurried from the room. Derek watched him go, not missing how red his ears were, before turning back to his ami.

 

“How long has he been your ‘boyfriend’ then?” his auntie asked, sending a sceptical look after Dex.

 

“You don't get to ask me that.”

 

“Derek!” Ami hissed at him.

 

“What? She disrespected me.”

 

 Derek held up against the stony silence that fell as he waited for Dex to come back with the bags he’d dumped in Derek’s room not an hour ago. Usually he would crumble under the heavy silence, but he was angry enough to allow it to get awkward. To get so unbearably awkward that he was almost  _daring_  one of them to say something. Ami was looking at him steadily before she slid her gaze over to his auntie who looked fit to burst, and set her jaw. She was letting him step away from this, but he couldn't find it in himself to be grateful. He shouldn't need too.

 

 Dex edged back into the room, letting Derek take one of his bags and hanging over Derek's own backpack that he'd picked up for him. “Ms.Malek, ma’am. It was nice to meet you,” Dex said quietly, nodding to them both before he followed Derek from the room, down the corridor, and out of the front door as Derek practically ran down the steps of his parents brownstone.

 

“I'll pay for the extra gas,” Derek said, Dex not even attempting to put up a token protest as he followed him down the sidewalk.

 

 Derek put their bags on the back seat when Dex unlocked his car, climbing over the driver's seat to collapse in the passenger side. Dex got in after him, rooting around under his seat to pull out a battered looking gps that if Derek was in a better mood be would have chirped him about coming from a boat.

 

Dex didn’t ask for the address, just handed the gps over for Derek to silently punch the in zip code, letting his anger simmer through him. He had never been one to hold onto his anger if he could help it, he got it out and was done with it. No point dwelling on shit, it was chill. He had enough stuff on his plate without silently seething over things, but, as was usually the case, with family it had always been different.

 

 Dex drove out of Brooklyn with far less yelling than Derek would expect of him in New York traffic. He left Derek to slump down in his seat, knees against the glove box, glaring out of window as he stewed over what his auntie had said and his ami had not done. He was angry that his parents had given him the tools to push back in every situation except with his family, that he had let it be like this for so long. Furious at his auntie. And, frankly, embarrassed and hurt that when he finally brought someone home it was treated with a dismissiveness that would light up almost every one of Dex’s highly strung insecurities.

 

 They didn’t know about them of course, but his ami had also taught him that not knowing was a reason not an excuse.

 

 He had no idea how long he sat in heavy, numb silence. One moment they were heading out of his block and the next they were well over the Bronx River and on the road headed north. He rolled his head on the headrest so he was facing forward again, all his earlier fire turned to a stinging kind of numbness. It felt like when you tired to walk when your feet were all pins-and-needles, but on his insides.

 

 The movement must have been his first for some time because Dex took a hand from the wheel to flick the radio onto a station that Derek, on any other day, would have put on before they had even left his block. Derek brushed his fingers over the back of Dex’s hand as his heavy eyes flicked up to Dex’s face, the numbness turning into something soupy and warm by just looking at his sure and steady profile.

 

 Being in love was disgusting, but Derek kinda dug it.

 

 Dex glanced over at him, his eyebrows doing that worried thing they did even as he shot him a half smile. “Hey.”

 

 Derek curled his fingers around Dex’s, wiggling himself to sit more upright as he looked around at the freeway flashing past. “Can you pull over at the next good spot?”

 

“Sure.”

 

“Chill.”

 

 Dex let him hold his hand for the next couple of miles until he pulled into a rest stop, car jerking to a halt on its old breaks.

 

 The traffic was a quiet hum outside Dex’s open window as they sat there for a beat, Dex fiddling with something in his lap whilst Derek stared at the dashboard, trying to get his brain to stop whirring long enough to say something. “I’m gonna go get some stuff. For the drive,” Dex said suddenly but not awkwardly, nodding over to the gas station. He waited for Derek to give him a nod, squeezing his hand before he slipped out of the door.

 

 He was giving Derek some space and he appreciated that. Right now Derek didn’t even know whether he wanted to have a good, long cry, or to run into the the bank of tree’s behind the rest stop and break some stuff. Dex wouldn’t stop him, would probably go and find some half rotten bits of wood that would be really satisfying to crush. He was as good as a twenty-one year old could be with all this, with someone else's depression and anxiety, but he was, unsurprisingly, an expert when it came to boiled over tempers.

 

 Derek rubbed at his eyes, then at the knot in his chest. There was a faint tremble in his hands. He felt uncertain and out of balance, almost like he wanted to ask Dex to turn the car around and take him back so he could apologise to his ami for showing her up in front of his auntie. Apologise for worrying her because she must be worried about him right now. She didn’t know how far he had come or how Dex was there for him, how he loved him, how he tried to be what Derek needed when he needed it the most.

 

 She didn’t know because as much as Derek talked about him his ami hadn’t had the chance to get to know him. That was even more of a reason to go back, give her a chance to get to like the awkward, grouchy, good hearted boy Derek loved. To apologise to one another, to smooth this all over.

 

 He touched his phone in his pocket, chewing his lip as he remembered how it had not buzzed once in the forty minutes since they left.

 

“ _‘Ablah, stop running around after her,_ ” his sister used to yell at him when they would argue about her  - an older, more headstrong teenager - wanting to do something that Derek - who was younger and used to hate upsetting people - knew ami would get mad about if she found out.

 

 Yasmin had been right in her own way, not that he’d ever tell her that.

 

 Ami had known Derek didn’t let people in easily and that him bringing someone home was a big deal. That this was serious. That even though all his parents had always accepted him in every way, bringing your first boyfriend home was a big deal on it's own. But Dex was the _only_ person he had ever brought home. This was important.

 

 He shoved his hands under his thighs and hunched over. He was right to be angry, he assured himself, anxious back peddling wouldn’t make it all go away. He was right to feel hurt, he was right to want an apology.

 

 He was sat like that when he spotted Dex walking back across the lot. He was balancing three bottles of water in one of his large hands and had bags of snacks in the other, the breeze ruffling his hair and catching his t-shirt so it flattened against his stomach and chest, the sunlight glinting off his aviators (and hadn't that been shock of the Frogs lives when he’d first pulled those out) that never quite sat right on his face because of his adorably uneven ears.

 

 Your hot boyfriend bringing you a a selection of junk food didn’t make everything better, but it distracted Derek enough to have something to smile about when Dex got back into the car, leaving one of his long legs resting outside of the open door.

 

“Hey, wonky face.”

 

“I realised you didn’t have any sunglasses with you so I got you some? So you don’t get a headache on the drive. An’ I was a bit eeehh ‘cause they’re not the best, but now I’m glad I got you fuck ugly gas station sunglasses,” Dex said, dropping the offending item into Derek’s lap.

 

 He flicked down the sun-visor to check out his reflection in the mirror and found himself grinning at how awful they were when he slipped them on. “They’re terrible, thanks babe.”

 

 Dex ‘hmm-d’ in reply, pulling open the stopper on one of the water bottles with his teeth before handing it over, watching Derek gulp down a mouthful before turning his attention to the food.

 

 The plastic crackled loudly as Derek rolled the bottle between his hands, watching Dex fight for a moment with his packet of Mini Reese's as he tried to gather up what to say. He glanced down at his hands when he realised they were wet with condensation, wiping his palms over the back of his neck to try and cool him down a little.

 

“I’m…”, he started talking without meaning to, coughed, and then took a big pull of water. “I’m sorry about this,” he turned sideways in his seat, kicking off a flip flop to tuck his foot under his knee as he reached out to grasp Dex’s arm. “That you drove five hours just to get shit talked at you like that, that’s not right. I cannot apologize enough for that it was…”

 

“You don't have to apologize, D." Dex said softly, pushing his sunglasses onto his head to look at him.

 

“What... I do. I really do Dex,” he squeezed his arm before flopping back in his seat. “My ami...she gets stuck in this frame of mind. Resolution, compromise, keep everyone happy to keep everyone calm. It's her job and she's really good at it, she’s _had_ to be really good at it to get as far as she has, and I never minded keeping my mouth shut if it's a good cause or to keep you know, drama to a minimum. I was the centre of enough family drama as a kid that it's always been mad stressful and I _want_ to stay out of it. But not if it's shitting on my family.”

 

 Dex took in a sharp breath as Derek realised what he'd said. They sat in silence for a little while, Dex compulsively eating candy while Derek waited quietly for his reaction, half hoping he'd ignore it and they could get on their way.

 

“My...that's how my family is sometimes,” Dex said, dropping the Reese's into his cupholder. “A few comments here and there, keeping you in your place. To - to...to…”

 

“To you?”

 

“Not just me, like all of us kids. But...more since I went away to college and got fancy friends like Jack or Chris and...having a boyfriend who lives in a brownstone,” something almost like fear passed over his face before he shrugged, refusing to look at Derek. “So it's not like I'm not used to that.”

 

“You know that's not great right?”

 

“Yeah,” Dex sighed, twisting his hands on the steering wheel. “But…” he glanced over at Derek, a sharp little movement of his head, gaze flicking rapidly between his eyes. “Guess I got a bit better family now?”

 

 

_X_X_X_

 

 His dad's house, a pleasantly normal, porchless, suburban building set no further back from the road than the length of the drive, was empty when they rocked up.

 

“Teach me to call ahead,” Derek muttered, dumping his backpack in the hall while Dex kicked his shoes off into the rack by the door, and headed off to check the wall planner in the kitchen. “Looks like they're in Philly with my step-mom’s fam.”

 

“I was looking forward to seeing your dad again,” Dex called back, Derek snorting at the memory of how nervous Dex had been when he first met him as he shot off a text letting his dad know they were at his place.

 

 Derek found Dex in the front room when he wandered back down the hall after darting off to pee. During the early afternoon the sun would shine right through the windows making it the warmest room in the house. It was uncomfortable to be in during the height of summer anyway, but after the house being shut up for a couple of days it was bordering on stifling. The only concession Dex had made to the stuffiness was pushing his bangs back off his forehead, a few strands of red hair sticking up at angles from his forehead. 

 

 He was stood by the mantle, holding one of the silver framed photos with the same soft, delighted smile on his face that everyone got when they looked at Derek’s baby pictures. He had been a perfectly chubby, perfectly bubbly baby, always ready with a smile and a laugh. Eleven month old Derek Nurse had a smooth little floof of curls, pretty pale eyes that were bright and joyful as he clapped his little chubby hands at whichever parent had been off camera keeping him entertained and still for the photographer.

 

 People looking at his baby pictures like that had started to irritate when he had got to fifteen. He had still been at elementary school when people had stopped treating him as a cute little kid and instead more like the six-foot-two, nearly two-hundred pound hockey player he was now.

 

 Dex looked at him and Derek expected him to say any of the usual ‘ _you were cute, what happened?_ ’ or ‘ _you were mad chubby bro.’_ But Dex sometimes did the unexpected out of pure contrariness Derek thought, because he held up the photo and said, “You still smile like this when you’re really laughing. Like _really_ laughing,” he looked down at the picture and smiled. “It’s cute.”

 

 Derek stepped around the coffee table to plaster himself against Dex’s warm back. He wrapped his arms around his waist, burying his face into the hair that was curling at the nape of Dex’s neck as he tried not to burst into wet, stressed out tears.

 

“Hey,” Dex said gently, giving up trying to turn in Derek’s arms when he gave him a tight squeeze. “You okay?”

 

“Bad day.”

 

 Dex gently patted the hands resting on his stomach. “Yeaaah, I know.”

 

 Derek rubbed his face against Dex’s shoulder, trying to breathe through the lump sitting high up in his chest. “I love you.”

 

“I love you too,” Dex said so softly it was almost like it escaped without his knowing, twisting enough to brush his lips against Derek’s temple. They stood for a little while like that, Dex carefully putting the baby photo back where he found it and resting his hands on Derek’s arms when he slipped a hand under Dex’s shirt to rest on his slightly sweaty side so he could feel his heartbeat. It was too warm to be so close like this but Dex didn't try to hurry him, instead started to hum a song from one of those early 2000's indie bands Derek would never admit to liking but he wouldn't deny it either. He tightened his hold on Dex when he began to sing the words gently under his breath, rocking them gently side to side to the rhythm.

 

 Derek pressed his cheek to Dex’s shoulder and soaked in the feel of him. His solid warmth was always a comfort and Derek was unwilling to think about anything outside this little bubble, let alone leave it. But there was only so long you could sway in the front room of your parents house while your boyfriend sang softly to you.

 

 Dex turned to face him when Derek loosened his hold, hands coming to cup his face, thumbs sweeping over his cheeks. “What do you need me to do?”

 

“If I said kiss me would that be too extra?”

 

“For you or in general?” Dex teased like he wasn’t going to do it anyway, kissing Derek softly before he'd even got his mouth open to tell Dex to get on with it.

 

 Any other time he would pretend to swoon in his arms like a starlet, but now he just wrapped his arms around Dex to hold him closer.

 

 Dex was brushing the tips of his fingers against the short hair behind Derek's ears when he pulled back, a look of gentle concern on his face that on him was one step below straight up just looking cross. Derek pressed his face into Dex’s neck so he didn't have to deal with that for a moment, breathing deep of the smell of deodorant, sweat, and long car journeys on Dex’s skin.

 

“I have a right to be upset.”

 

“You do.”

 

“And to be angry.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“And you're not just saying that ‘cause you're my boyfriend.”

 

“Nope.”

 

 Derek brushed his lips over the heated, flushed skin of Dex’s neck before pulling away, leaving his hands resting on his waist. “You must be mad tired from driving all over today.”

 

“I'm all right.”

 

“No. Come on. Sit on the deck with a beer and I'll look through the freezer for some food.”

 

“If I have a beer I'll fall asleep.”

 

 Derek rolled his eyes, giving Dex shirt a tug so he'd follow him out to the back of the house. “Here's me thinking you Maine boys were tough.”

 

“I don't think anyone's ever said that.”

 

 Dex ended up shouldering Derek out of the way and throwing together some pasta from what was in the pantry while Derek cleaned up anything Dex dropped in to the sink. He needed to do something, to move, tapping his fingers or shuffling his feet when he wasn’t moving around to keep out of Dex’s way. He felt like he’d vibrate out of his skin if he didn’t.

 

“Do you need to go on a run around the block?” Dex asked in all seriousness as he dumped cooked pasta into the sauce.

 

“Do you think I should?”

 

“I’ll come with you if you want?”

 

 Derek looked at Dex and knew it wouldn’t do any good. What would help wasn’t really going to work right now. He was no way near in the right head-space to get it up, let alone get off. “I’ll be okay,” Derek assured quietly, Dex giving him a look that said he knew exactly what was up.

 

 He plated up the food, set the pan and spoon into the sink, and before Derek could dart in to deal with it he caught him around the waist and kissed him so thoroughly Derek did almost swoon in his arms this time.

 

 Dex held him about the waist as he kissed him, free hand stroking up Derek’s side, over his shoulder and up to cup the side of his neck, thumb pressing into his jaw as he licked into his mouth. It wasn’t a wank, and it certainly wasn’t Dex dropping to his knees, but when Dex carefully trailed off with lingering kisses the itch under his skin had turned into a pleasant warmth that ran all the way to Derek's toes.

 

“O-oh,” Derek sighed when he opened his eyes, using the fingers threaded through Dex’s hair to give it a gentle tug. “Okay,” he said, licking his tingling lips, giving Dex a pat on the ass when he stepped back.

 

“Get through dinner now?”

 

“If that hadn’t totally worked I’d be so mad at you for saying that.”

 

 Dex gave him a half smile that could almost be called rakish if you were so minded and biased (which Derek was), and he felt his already flushed cheeks darken.

 

 They ate pasta in the long shadows of the summer evening. There were candles on the table between them, but they were citronella ones to keep the bugs away and not for romance, and instead of wine in their glasses they had slightly warm orangeade (Dex thought that was something fancy, so Derek wasn't sure if it counted as special or not). They didn’t speak much, but Derek found they often didn’t. Dex’s needling silences of years ago had become an easy, companionable, (ironically) unspoken thing, Dex’s feet tangled with Derek’s around the central legs of the table.

 

 As a non-self proclaimed Jock Derek had been around muscular folks more often than not. But, being the first guy Derek had dated made the sheer size of Dex a bit of a novelty for him. He was big all over, just the same as Derek, but sometimes he found himself watching him, the pull of clothes over his ass and shoulders, the power of his forearms, his _hands_ , his long ass legs _,_ and felt a flare of want so hot and sharp he’d had to up and excuse himself from the room (usually the Haus kitchen) plenty of times in the past.

 

“Bruh. You are mad hot.”

 

 Dex rolled his eyes at him as he put a forkful of pasta in his mouth, making like he wasn’t secretly pleased to hear that, ducking away when Derek reached out to tug on a flushed ear.

 

 When they’d finished eating Derek went to leave the bowls to soak in the sink, turning on the radio and opening the kitchen window so they could hear the music out on the deck. He stood by the filling sink, watching Dex push his chair back so he could throw his legs out and prop up his heels on the railing, hands resting on his stomach. Derek watched him so he wouldn’t be tempted to look at his phone that had been purposefully left face down on the counter after he had texted his dad. The longer he stood there the heavier it’s presence weighed on him, the smooth white plastic rectangle seeming to grow and grow and grow until it filled his peripheral vision.

 

 If he checked it and there was nothing he’d get mad, but if he checked it and there was a message from ami or mom then he would probably get mad all the same. It was all still too close and jumbled. He didn’t want to be angry, he wanted to spend this time with Dex. Like, an empty house over a school break was _peak_ getting your fuck on real estate, and here was Derek washing up and ignoring the looming spectre of his phone instead of climbing into Dex’s lap and asking if he’d like to finger him.

 

 He turned off the tap and stared at his phone, shoving his hands in his pockets when he realised he’d began picking at the skin around his thumbs. Derek stared down at his feet, taking a deep breath as the itch started up under his skin. He turned on his heels and walked purposefully back outside, flopping into his chair and tried to pretend like he wasn’t listening for his phone.

 

 He tried sitting like Dex, then pulled his feet under the chair until he almost slid out of it, then sat up straight and threw a leg over the armrest, picking at the stitching on his shorts the whole time. It wasn’t quite like the earlier uneasiness, but the lack of distractions meant he couldn’t switch his brain off from churning over and over and over what could happen, what might happen. What he’d say in a full on argument with his ami or how he’d try to hold it together if they apologised to one another and talked it out.

 

“You know whatever yoga breathing stuff you do? Just sit still and do it.”

 

“How are you got getting fidgety? What do you guys do up in Maine for fun when it’s quiet like this?”

 

“‘Cause I’m tired and throw knives at beer cans.”

 

“Whaaaat. Serious?”

 

“Yep.

 

“Bruh... You sure you’re not from like, the thirties?”

 

 Dex closed his eyes and huffed through his nose. “Feels like it sometimes.”

 

“How you liking this Brave New World?”

 

“Even I know that’s not a good reference. Comparison? Whatever.”

 

“Feels like it sometimes though.”

 

 Dex opened an eye to look at Derek. “You’re not gonna shut up are you?”

 

“Feeling antsy.”

 

“I noticed.”

 

“...I’ll shut up.”

 

“No. S’okay. I don’t mind,” Dex said, touching Derek’s arm with the back of his hand.

 

 Despite that assurance they did fall silent. Derek looked at the breeze shifting through the tops of the tree’s that were still bathed in warm evening sunlight, at the band of wildflowers down the side of the garden that his step-sisters had planted for the bees and the butterflies.

 

“Will?”

 

“Mmmm.”

 

“Tell me something?”

 

“...what something?”

 

“Something. About you.”

 

 Dex frowned and opened his eyes. “About me? Like what?”

 

“Something dumb. Something silly. Distract me.”

 

_“_ You know…” Dex started slowly, a look on his face like he was still making up his mind on whether to tell this story or not. “I went out with a guy once, in Sophomore year, for like two weeks. I wouldn’t even call it going out to be honest. Just hooking up and talking. Anyway, he took me out to eat one night, so on the drive home he pulled over and I went down on him. I was a baby gay trying shit out?  An’ I got cocky with how much I could take an’ I almost threw up on his dick.”

 

 Derek burst out into raucous, surprised laugher, reaching out to grab onto Dex’s arm. “Oh babe…” he got out before laughing some more, feeling lighter by the moment, the tension he always held in his shoulders when he got stressed seeping out of him.

 

 Dex let him laugh. He was blushing brightly but he looked charmed by Derek’s amusement, a small tired smile pulling at his lips when Derek glanced over at him. Sleepy looked good on him, so Derek had to lean in and press his smile to his lips, running the palm of his hand over the worn soft material of his shirt.

 

“I can't believe I told you that,” Dex said, voice quiet as he scrubbed a hand through his hair.

 

“I won’t ask you for that as a special d/w. I don’t like it that messy.”

 

" _How_ are you saying that?"

 

"What :/ ?"

 

"You know exactly...I _will_ kick your ass.”

 

 

_X_X_X_

 

 Dex had shifted in the night from being tucked up against Derek’s back, his nose pressing gently between his shoulder blades as he’d drifted off to sleep. He’d kicked off the coverlet so it was tangled around his legs where he was sprawled out on his back, one hand shoved under the pillow and the other resting against Derek’s side.

 

 Derek had been looking at him for the little while he’d been awake, finding his regular, steady, slightly nasal breathing calming in its familiarity.

 

 There was a line half way down Dex’s arms, about where a t-shirt sleeve would end, where the smattering of freckles that Derek was so fond of became thicker and darker in what passed for a tan on him. Derek traced the line with his finger, dropping a kiss onto the ball of his shoulder as he followed the curve of it down to his chest.

 

 Dex’s breathing stayed steady until Derek ghosted his hand down Dex’s thigh, letting his fingers get trapped when Dex slammed his legs closed on instinct as he jerked awake.

 

“Wha...oh.”

 

“Didn't mean to wake you.”

 

“Creeper,” Dex grunted, closing his eyes and flopping back against the pillow.

 

 Derek swept his thumb over Dex’s thigh, letting his hand rest there even though Dex had let his legs sprawl open again. He kissed the ball of his shoulder, the dip where his collarbone was, and his neck before Dex made a high little noise and shifted to look at him. “Hi.”

 

“Hey.”

 

“How you doing today?”

 

“Okay,” Derek murmured, smiling when Dex smoothed his hand up his arm. “Distract me?”

 

 Dex let his whole body flop, rolling his head on the pillow as he declared, “Ravish me then!” in an overwrought New England accent. Derek chose to ignore that, pulling at Dex so he rolled over to rest on top of him, something restless in him calming when Dex let his weight press him into the mattress.

 

“How do I go about distracting Derek Nurse? Do I say Byron is actually pretty underrated?” he grinned as Derek pretended to try and shove him off of him. “Do I tell him what processes his dad should go through to make the wood of the decking last longer?”

 

“Oh my god…”

 

“Do I say Starbucks does good coffee? Do I tell him that I don't know what ATCQ means and at this point I'm too afraid to ask? Do I mention Neruda just to see how bright his eyes get when he talks about him? Or,” he kissed Derek's nose. “Do I,” a kiss to his cheekbone. “Do something,” a peck on the lips. “About the semi he's rocking?”

 

“...lets talk about Neruda.”

 

“Well I think his fascination with Butterflies really ties in with the…”

 

“If I try to call your bluff you'll still have stuff to say, won't you?”

 

“Oh yeah, ‘course.”

 

 Derek trailed his hand down Dex’s back, slipping his fingertips under the band of his boxers. “I love you.”

 

“And I love you,” Dex said like it was the simplest, most basic fact in the world, so Derek pulled him down into a kiss.

 

 He shoved at Dex’s boxers, getting them over his ass before Dex pulled away long enough to kick them off. Derek sat up, smoothing his hands up Dex’s thighs, trailing his thumbs over the dip above his hip bones as he swept his hands up his solid waist to his broad, powerful chest. When his little brother, little shit-ness, leapt out he had called Dex a cheese dorito before now, but all Derek could think in this moment was how goddam lucky he was.

 

“You're thinking cheese dorito aren't you?”

 

 Derek shook his head as he wrapped his hand around Dex’s dick, stroking it slowly. “Bold assumption that anyone can think about anything when you're naked,” he said as he bent to ran the flat of his tongue over the tip of Dex’s dick, kissing around the head before sucking a few inches into his mouth. He pulled off with a pop to smile up at Dex who'd gone very red, his eyelids fluttering when Derek pressed a kiss to his stomach

 

 Dex dropped down into his lap, cupping his face in his hands as he kissed him hard. It took some shifting for Dex to fit in his lap, being all leg made it a little ungainly, but when he got settled he pressed his hips down against Derek’s dick, smiling into his mouth when he gasped.

 

 Dex shifted again so Derek’s dick slid against the crease of his groin when he rocked his hips. To keep his balance he had to take a hand off of Derek to hold onto the headboard which Derek did not approve of at all, gripping Dex’s ass as he let out a sound of protest. “Will…”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“ _Will_.”

 

“What do you want?”

 

“You…” Derek started. His automatic response was to accuse Dex of being a brat, but his words fell flat, a simmering heat sparking through him when Dex gave a slow, liquid roll of his hips, warm eyes staring at Derek from under heavy lids as he ducked his head to kiss Derek again. He tilted his head to push up against Dex’s lips, sliding his tongue into his mouth as he grabbed him by his narrow hips and pushed.

 

He liked knowing that whenever he manhandled Dex it was because he was being _allowed_ to do it. It was not just the physicality of putting someone as big as him he where wanted them, it was being allowed it by someone who was the most certain in his ‘No’s’ Derek had ever met. He liked that trust and ease between them, he liked that Dex’s instinct to push back didn’t always kick in around him anymore. Most of all he liked that, when Derek was the one allowing the maneuvering, Dex got how much of a show of trust that was from _him_.

 

 He got Dex leaning comfortably against the headboard and hopped off the bed to dig out the lube he kept hidden away because of his sisters. When he turned back around Dex was sitting patiently if slightly awkwardly where he’d left him, freckled knees pulled up as he watched Derek watching him. He rocked on his feet, squeezing the bottle in his hand as he took a moment to make sure he didn’t tumble over his own feet on the short journey back to the bed.

 

 Derek placed the lube next to the bedside lamp and dropped happily sat into Dex’s lap, leaning his weight against his chest as he kissed him. He threaded his fingers into Dex’s soft hair as his rough hands ran from his waist to cup his shoulder blades and back down again, Derek pulling at his hair when Dex squeezed his hips and pulled him down against him.

 

“Shit...yeah. One sec,” Derek pulled away, took a gasping breath, catching sight of Dex’s swollen, pink lips and dived in again for another kiss. “Okay,” he breathed when he ripped his mouth away a second time, flailing for the lube and knocking a book left on the nightstand to the floor.

 

“Hey, hey. Where’s the fire,” Dex said gently, catching Derek’s hands in his own. “Slow down. I’m not going anywhere.”

 

Derek nodded, taking a deep breath to try and calm his heartbeat thrumming under his skin. He tried to not rush clicking open the cap of the lube, spreading some on his hand before carefully placing the bottle back on the nightstand.

 

 He ran his hand over Dex’s cock, swallowing the sounds he made with a kiss. He waited until Dex bucked under him before taking them both him hand, adjusting his hold so he could rock into his fist and against Dex’s dick.

 

 Dex kissed over Derek’s jaw and neck whilst he twisted his fist over their cocks, sucking marks onto his collarbone as his hands made their way around to Derek’s ass. He gasped when Derek tightened his fingers in his hair, dragging Dex’s head up from marking his chest when he grabbed a couple of handfuls of Derek's ass and squeezed.

 

“Yes,” Derek groaned, tugging the lobe of Dex’s ear through his teeth just to feel a moan rumble through his chest. “Fuck yes.”

 

 He let Dex guide the swivel of his hips with the hands on his ass, breath hitching every time he dug his fingers in, his face heating when thought how easily Dex could part his cheeks and touch him. If he wanted to. If _Derek_ wanted him to.

 

 Derek pulled one of Dex’s hands off his ass, bringing it up to his mouth to suck on his fingers. He almost burst out laughing at the stunned look on Dex’s face, gaping at his fingers disappearing between Derek’s lips. He let his teeth catch on his boney knuckles and Dex let out a choked noise, hips jerking as he came all over Derek’s hand and dick.

 

“Shit…” Dex wimpered as Derek pulled his fingers out of his mouth with a pop. “Shit - sorry, that was...”

 

“Shhhh. Shhh.” Derek soothed, cupping Dexs cheek as he gave him several firm kisses, filing that reaction away for later. “It’s fine. It’s good. That was so sexy. God…” he ducked his head to leave his own faint marks on Dex’s neck, the skin there even more easy to bruise than the rest of him.

 

 A thought, an idea, made Derek’s face _burn_ as he rocked against Dex’s stomach, one of his hands on his ass and the other hot and wet with spit on Derek’s side. He picked that one up, pulling away from Dex’s throat that was blotchy from more than just blushes. Derek kissed the delicate bones of his wrist, the dip below his thumb, and then wiped the cum from the back of his hand onto his fingers.

 

Dex frowned, just blinking out of his daze of orgasm as Derek moved his hand back around to his ass, arching his back so his fingers could brush between his cheeks.

 

“Please.”

 

 The hand still on Derek's ass squeezed hard as Dex swallowed. “Oh fuck.”

 

 Derek's body jerked when Dex brushed his fingers very, very lightly over his hole. “Its okay,” Derek assured when Dex curled his fingers away, “It was a good jump.”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Okay,” Dex started planting soft kisses over Derek's shoulder and neck as he rubbed his fingers over Derek's hole again

 

 He'd never done more with Dex than he'd done with a girl - he'd had fingers up his ass before, and a girlfriend had eaten him out once- but he wanted to do more with him. He was working up to it as much mentally as physically, and just the thought of Dex’s cum there, pressing inside him, streaking hot over his ass and back like he'd done to Dex many times before, had him cumming.

 

 

 They ended up sprawled next to one another leaning on the headboard, shoulders brushing as they caught their breath.

 

 Derek had been crying. He had curled up into Dex, limbs and breathing shaking from orgasm, and all the emotions from yesterday had come flooding to the surface as he had burst into tears. Dex had wrapped his arms around him, Derek sobbing over his first nervous placation's until Dex had seemed to recover from his initial shock and his low voice and steady hands had helped soothe him, letting Derek get all his anger and fear and every restless emotion out into the crook of his neck.

 

 Derek picked up Dex’s hand, his clean hand, and placed it on his thigh. “I'm going to be serious at you for a moment, and I don't want you to try and joke to cheer me up.”

 

“I won’t.”

 

“How I coped with everything before was fine. It worked because it got me here, it’s chill ya know. But it meant letting my parents handle things because it was too much sometimes. Mom and dad kinda pushed me not to as I got older, but Ami…I'm her baby you know? She loves my big sis too, but I'm her little boy and -” he glanced at Dex and squeezed his hand, “and I know I'm blessed to be loved and supported like I am. That's why it felt so awful to do what I did yesterday. I felt like I was severing something, but I know that I needed to do that. To grow and be healthy and…you know. Don't think I'm all upset because I regret sticking up for you.”

 

“I know. It's okay. Families are hard.”

 

 Derek leant his head on Dex’s shoulder, tangling their fingers together. “Thank you,” he said, meaning ‘I love you’.

 

“It's okay,” Dex said, meaning ‘I love you too’.

 

 

_X_X_X_

 

 Dex’s adorable, hip wiggling dancing came out for two things and two things alone; jello shots and classic Stevie Wonder.

 

Derek was perched on the counter watching him bop along to his step-mom’s Motown playlist, smiling at the occasional use of the spatula as a microphone as he got brunch going. They had dug some plantain out of the freezer and Dex was frying it up to go with the eggs he was making to Derek’s dad’s recipe (if not quite as heavy on the Scotch Bonnet peppers), filling the kitchen with the familiar, comfortable smells of Derek’s childhood.

 

 He reached out to let his fingers brush against the fabric of Dex’s shirt, letting his mouth tick into a half smile when Dex shot a wink at him, wiggling his butt as he flicked the stove to a lower heat. Derek was about to catch him by the sleeve and pull him in for a kiss when the phone he had left in the kitchen overnight started to vibrate.

 

 There had been a voicemail from his Mom waiting for him when they had eventually made it downstairs and he’d texted her to let her know he was okay while Dex had quietly got the coffee on. Derek stared at his phone now, hoping it was her calling back almost as much as he hoped it wasn’t.

 

“D’ya want me to see who it is?”

 

 Derek took a deep breath and hopped off the counter, hands still gripping the edge as he nodded. “Please.”

 

 Dex flipped it over and craned his neck to check the screen. “Ami.”

 

 Derek squeezed his hand as he passed to pick up his phone, walking through into the den before he answered.

 

“Hey ami.”

 

“ _Alhamdulillah,_ _we were so worried when you didn’t answer your mom but your dad said you were at his so we didn’t want to crowd you...oh_ _habibi. Are you okay?”_ she gushed in Arabic. “ _Have you taken your_ medication? _”_

 

“ _I’m fine ami_ ,” he said, glancing at the doorway before switching into English. He knew Dex wouldn’t snoop, but he wanted him to be able to tell if this was going badly or not. “I’m sorry I worried you and mom but I needed some space to think and to talk some things over with Will. And I’m feeling good this morning. Will’s making me his version of Dad’s special breakfast to cheer me up.”

 

“ _Are you sure you’re alright?”_

 

“I’m feeling…centered. Are you and mom okay?”

 

“ _Better for hearing from you habibi. We were so worried. I’m not mad at you, I talked to your auntie about what she said. I’m not mad at you, you can come home whenever you like…”_

 

“What did auntie say?”

 

 Ami sighed deeply. "Your auntie..."

 

“You said you spoke to her, what did she say? Did she apologize?”

 

“ _You know what her side of the family is like…”_

 

“Then I’m sorry, but that’s not okay. If she wants to be like that then I don’t want anything to do with her.”

 

“Derek…”

 

“I’ve been in a really good place for the past few months, and I ca-”

 

“We’ve been able to tell, _habibi.”_

 

“Well, I’m happy it’s coming across, ami. Like, that’s a show of progress right? But, ami, I’m not fourteen anymore. You being a barrier between me and some of our relatives who I _know need handling, I appreciate that._ You doing that kept me fucking sane sometimes, _but I'm not tiptoeing around them anymore._ I’m not fourteen anymore, I’m an adult. But if they can’t take that I have depression or anxiety _or have a boyfriend then they can ignore my existence for all I care. ‘Cause I’m perfectly happy without them in my life_.”

 

 There was a beat of silence before his ami said, “ _I understand."_ And Derek knew, from the sacrifices she made to be with his mom and to have him, that she did.

 

“Will has met dad and mom, and I invited him down because I love him and I wanted him to meet you. And you didn't care.”

 

“Derek, you know that's not true!”

 

“Okay, that's what it felt like then.  _He's it for me Ami._ ” He said in rushed Arabic, lowering his voice like Dex might understand him. _“_ That's why he's here. That’s why you all know about him and I even said anything to auntie. _It’s not going to go down so well with some of his family if he brings_ _me_ _home._ I wanted this to go well.”

 

 His ami was quiet for a long moment. “That the whole conversation went like it did, I was going to apologise to you both for that anyway. But to come into our home when your own would be so...I would like to apologise to Will.”

 

“I can get him…”

 

“ _I think I should do it in person,”_ she made a soft, sighing sound down the line. “Everytime you come back from college you’re less of the boy I know and more of the man I hoped you would one day get to be. Even after going through all that with your sister, sometimes it’s so easy to forget. I'm sorry.”

 

“I get that.”

 

“ _You were right to be angry_. I’m proud of you showing me how angry you were when I wasn't prepared to listen. And I'm also proud of you for talking this out with me. I know how emotions can lead us around.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

“ _Is Will okay?”_

 

“Yeah he’s fine. He uh...yeah he’s okay. He was more concerned about me than anything.”

 

“I'll come up state tomorrow and take you boys out for the day.”

 

 Derek was very, very tempted to say they were busy. Or at least that he needed to ask Dex first. But this was his ami, and she was as imperfect as anyone else but had never done anything but love him. And she was trying, just like they all were. “Okay. We'd really like that. Thanks Ami.’

 

“Okay. Okay. I’m so relieved you’re all right.”

 

“I’m good ami. Really. _Ana baħibbik_.”

 

“ _Habib albi._ I love you too. And I’ll let you get back to your breakfast. Oh...it's more like brunch now isn't it? Anyway, I hope Will can do justice to your father’s cooking.”

 

“Well, I think he’s a good cook. I like what he makes anyway.”

 

“That’s the most important thing,” she said softly, a smile obvious in her voice.

 

 After they said their goodbyes Derek pressed his heated phone to his face, tipping his head back towards the ceiling. He felt like he needed a quiet moment after that...that almost official severance from his childhood self that had begun when he went off to college. He never thought it would be a set point he could point to and say ‘that’s when I became and adult'. He thought that he would grow into it like most people (or what he assumed most people) did. It kinda hurt, an ache he knew he would only be able to express in his writing - which was what it was there for- but the daunting stretch of his future did not overwhelm as much as it used to these days.

 

 Dex was cutting toast into diagonal halves when Derek wandered back into the kitchen. He paused when he realised Derek was stood in the doorway, taking the half eaten piece of plantain out from between his teeth. “How’d it go?”

 

“As well as I expected, and no where near the screaming match I was afraid of. We talked it out, she gets it, she’s sorry it went like it did. And feels bad you got caught up in it. ”

 

 Dex’s sharp gaze flicked over Derek before he put down the pan and moved closer to him. “Are you okay?”

 

“Yeah.” Derek reached out and touched his arm, letting his fingers slide down until he could squeeze Dex’s hand. “Might need to write it out, but I’m okay.”

 

“Good.”

 

 Dex didn’t budge under Derek’s weight when he sagged against him, just wrapped his arms around his waist and rested his cheek on Derek’s head when he pressed his face hard into Dex’s shoulder. “She’s gonna come take us out to eat tomorrow to apologise. To you mainly I think.”

 

“That’s good of her.”

 

“Are you going to be anything but understanding about this whole thing?” Derek asked, pushing himself back to look at him.

 

 Dex shrugged, “Understanding doesn’t mean I’m not upset about all this. I was so _angry_ about the whole thing but not for me? For you, because I could tell you were Really upset. Like, I’ve never seen you that upset. But I’m not about to start bi - complaining about your family. That I barely even know,” a small smile tugged at his lips. “Someone once told me that was a shitty thing to do.”

 

 Derek’s hands slipped down to rest on Dex’s stomach as he gave him half a dozen small kisses. “I don’t want you to ever bottle stuff up on my account. Even if I’m having a bad time please don’t ever hide it from me.”

 

“Oh you want me to yell some more? I can yell some more if you want. Why are you… stop tickling me! I made you _BRUNCH.”_

 

“That’s the gayest thing you’ve _ever_ said and you’ve told me to cum in…”

 

“Yeah alright, alright. Get off me so we can eat before all my efforts are _ruined_.”

 

 

_X_X_X_ 

 

 Derek totally wasn’t pacing. He was just getting the restlessness out of his legs, and he’d always liked the sensation of the front room carpet under his feet since his step-mom had it installed. Dex had giving up watching him a couple of minutes ago and was slouched down in the arm chair, legs tucked up under him so Derek didn’t trip on them, watching something quietly on his phone.

 

Derek had almost snapped at him a couple of times for being so non-plussed about this, but he recognised the tap of his feet and the hyper-attention on the video as Dex being nervous and hiding it, so he felt a little bit better about his non-pacing.

 

“If we fight again I wanna apologise in advance,” Derek said to the room, and Dex grunted in reply. “If it’s awkward I wanna apologise too. And if it’s weird. And…”

 

“D,” Dex said softly, closing his phone screen and looking up at him. Derek paced back towards him and dropped right into his lap. Dex groaned under the sudden extra weight, shoving at Derek until he could sit up in the chair, arms wrapped around his waist. “It’ll be fine.”

 

“You’re nervous about it too.”

 

“Yes, I am. But from what I know of her, your Mom isn’t the kind of person to make the same mistake twice.”

 

“If she doesn’t like you she might pretend to just to make it up with me.”

 

“Thanks a bunch.”

 

“You know what I _mean_.”

 

“Were you freaking out like this before I got to New York?”

 

“A bit. Not quite so much. I was more excited to see you again.”

 

“Sap,” Dex said, and blushed brightly.

 

“Fuck, you’re so cute,” Derek breathed, and Dex blushed darker, hand rubbing up his back.

 

“I was excited to see you too. I’d missed you.”

 

“And you walked straight in to drama, gave you the full Nursey experience,” Derek pressed their foreheads together. “I think I’d rather be here with you than with parents always around, and without New York. There’s too much there when all I want is you.”

 

“I get you.”

 

“Plus I think you’d genuinely hate it. And I had nightmares about it giving you a panic attack.”

 

“I don’t have panic attacks, I just get nose bleeds.”

 

“FYI to your body, that is infinitely more terrifying.”

 

“I’ll pass along the memo,” Dex said with that gentle lilt to his voice again, nervousness bright in his eyes. Derek tilted his head and Dex met it in a kiss that was as soothing as it was a distraction. And what a distraction Dex could be, Derek didn’t pay any mind that his Ami would definitely be able to see them making out through the window if she pulled onto the drive right now.

 

“I want you two to get along.”

 

“Same. I...with all of them I hoped we could be civil, ‘cause I know I’m probably not what they imagined? And I can be very uneasy around people and that makes them uneasy and you guys need to talk and I’ll just be _th_ _ere_ …”

 

“Dad loves you, and mom thinks you’re good for me.”

 

 Dex pressed his head back into the headrest to look Derek in the eye. “I hope I am.”

 

“I hope you are too,” Derek smiled, threading his fingers through Dex’s. “Me and ami have got the whole summer to talk shit out, this is still about her meeting you. I won’t put you in any kind of awkward position with my family ever again.”

 

“I kinda thought...the other day was all because. Because I’m me, you know? I’m a bit of an asshole and I came off like that and that’s why that all happened.”

 

“That is not your fault,” Derek said as he pressed a kiss to his temple. “Please don’t think that.”

 

 Dex nodded, which was about as much as Derek could hope to get out of him right now. He shifted to get more comfy in his lap, hoping his ass wasn’t sending Dex’s legs to sleep, and felt warmth tingly through him when Dex pressed a firm kiss to his temple.

 

“And...and I think you and your ami will be okay today.”

 

“You do?”

 

“It’ll be a bit weird maybe, shit is after arguments and with the stuff you said to her it’ll take some adjusting to treat you different I think. She really loves you though. That counts for something.”

 

 Derek pushed Dex’s bangs off his forehead, running a thumb along the pale, faintly freckled skin up by his hairline that had not yet caught the sun this summer. He wouldn’t insult him by remarking on the wisdom of that, Dex could be very insightful when he felt like. He stroked his temple and ducked his head to kiss one of his eyebrows, smiling at the memory of when he found out Dex had to dye them just to make them visible.

 

“I know what you’re smiling about,” Dex muttered, one of his big hands a grounding pressure on his back, taking Derek’s weight when he sagged against him.

 

“Age cannot wither you, nor custom stale your infinite variety.”

 

“If anyone here is gonna be Cleopatra it’s gonna be you.”

 

“Flattery will work wholly and utterly on me.”

 

 Dex looked very proud of himself, grinning as he gave Derek’s knee a gentle squeeze. “I know.”

 

 The sound of a car pulling into the drive gave them plenty of time to untangle themselves from one another. The doorbell rang and Dex gave him one last pressing, reassuring kiss before following Derek to the door.

 

 His ami’s pale eyes were full of an unfamiliar uncertainty as she looked over Derek. She smiled at him all the same, pulling him down into a hug when he opened his arms to her, holding tight. “ _Habibi_ ,” she said gently, pulling back to look at him, hands holding onto his wrists like she had done ever since he had grown taller than her. “I'm sorry this had to happen like this. I tried to stop you growing up too fast, and I missed you becoming a man.”

 

“Kinda snuck up on me too, ami.”

 

 She nodded, giving his wrists a squeeze before turning to Dex who was stood at Derek’s shoulder trying to stay out of the way.

 

“Hello William.”

 

“Good morning, Ma’am.”

 

“I owe you an apology,” Dex shifted, trying to look like a normal human as he rubbed his hands anxiously on his thighs. “I treated you with less respect that my son’s boyfriend deserves. I am sorry.”

 

“It’s okay, ma’am. Really.”

 

“We’re not always the smoothest running family. We’re not perfect, but we stick together no matter what, _inshallah,_ ” she stepped up to Dex and took him by the wrists. “I’ve been given to understand that may not be the case with some of your family. So from now on, unless you mess up big time with my son, I want you to know that you’ve got me in your corner. ”

 

“Oh ami,” Derek breathed as he watched Dex’s face pinch with an emotion he’d never seen on him before.

 

“Thank you,” Dex said, bending obediently when she pulled him into a hug, Derek following when she held out an arm to him.

 

“Now. That’s enough of all that,” ami said, stepping back and clapping her hands together, shaking off the emotion. “If you’re all ready, I’ll take you boys out. There’s a place we go a town over, Will, that does very good Lebanese food. It’s not quite a taste of home for me but it’s close enough. That okay with you?”

 

“Sure. I’ll just go get my phone and stuff and be right with you,” Dex said in a very well veiled excuse to give Derek and his ami a moment alone.

 

“Thank you for coming up, and for...well. Making this whole thing as easy as it could be.”

 

 She nodded, giving him the same small smile she always did whenever he thanked her for anything because, as she always said, ‘you need to be polite and respectful, but a mother doesn’t need to be thanked for loving her child’.

 

“You look good,” she said, running a hand over his arm. “You look happy despite all this unpleasantness. You look healthy.”

 

“I’ve been coping better, finding ways to cope better. And Dex is...I've got friends who ground me, I guess. And Dex can cook so… he makes me eat properly and I probs feel better not eating sh - junk all the time when I get bad.”

 

“Oooh yes! I heard about this from your dad!” she smiled at Dex when he reappeared from the kitchen. “If you make it back down to Brooklyn while you’re in the state you’ll have to come show off this famed cooking skill.”

 

“Ami, you can’t just ask him to cook for you!”

 

“It’s fine. I don’t mind.”

 

“You should be proud of your skills and your talents. But never arrogant! There’s nothing wrong with showing what you are good at or showing your appreciation for someone else’s talents.”

 

“Yeah, Derek.”

 

“Oh okay then. You can make Fattoush for her then.”

 

“Okay.”

 

“See, he wants to share his talents. And cooking is a talent to be shared.”

 

 Dex walked off with her towards her car, Derek noticing how he shortened his stride ever so slightly to keep pace with her just like he did with Lardo and Ford and it made him smile. He watched them talk amongst themselves, both trying hard to be friendly for his sake and coming off as not all that awkward. It was sweet, but it did not make the last day and a bit okay. There were things still to smooth out and work on. There would be step's backwards and tears, and a few more arguments with his family and with Dex, no doubt. But this was a start, he told himself as he pulled the door shut behind him.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Nursey came out super thirsty in this. We all get those days ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯.
> 
> Families are not easy and no-one here is a bad parent. Sometimes we get stuck in a behaviour with your family, especially a parent, that isn't unhealthy but is unhelpful when you're an adult. In this case it's a little unhealthy but Communication Is Always Key Bruh.


End file.
